Chapter 35, Eric Marcel’s Second Medicine
After successfully finishing my business, I returned to my territory.
I had been away for around ten days, so I asked Diego whether anything unusual had happened.
During my absence, he had managed the territory together with Administrator Ricardo and Knight Commander Axel.
“Diego, report anything important.”
“There was nothing significant to report from either the administration or the knight order.”
“What about the people?”
“The development of the frontier villages and the migration of settlers are proceeding smoothly. Also, Witch Winnie contacted us. She says she has completed the antidiarrheal medicine.”
I had taught Winnie how to make Seirogan style pills.
I had heard that she was conducting clinical trials on prisoners.
Apparently, she had already finished developing the medicine.
“Send a servant and tell Winnie to come here.”
I had only just returned and already had a lot of work to do.
That was why I called her here instead.
Still, ordering around a 185 year old grandmother felt slightly uncomfortable.
A few hours later.
Witch Winnie came to my office.
“My lord, I’m relieved to see you healthy.”
“Where did that come from? Were you worried about my health?”
“You’re the largest shareholder of our company. And you still need to teach me how to make more things.”
“So you were worried about the money.”
Winnie giggled.
She looked like a mischievous grandmother who had somehow regressed back into a child.
“How were the clinical trials?”
“We managed to stop diarrhea without any major side effects.”
“What side effects did appear?”
“Constipation.”
My deepest sympathies to the prisoners who participated in the trials.
“Well, that can’t be helped. Anyway, request protection from the Pharmacists’ Guild and pay the registration and protection fees. I approve immediate sales.”
However, Winnie hesitated.
Apparently, there was something she wanted to say.
“What is it? Say it.”
“The price. You never told me how much we should charge.”
I had never thought about it.
“How much can we produce?”
“The formula is extremely simple, so we can make enormous quantities. If we build more pharmaceutical factories, we could produce enough medicine even if the entire Franche Kingdom suddenly got diarrhea.”
The image appeared in my head before I could stop it.
Tens of millions of people suffering from diarrhea at the same time.
It was horrifying.
“Also, the charcoal created while extracting wood vinegar has commercial value.”
“Then make the antidiarrheal medicine cheap in Marcel and expensive in other territories. If an epidemic breaks out, give them a discount. How about that?”
Winnie grinned.
Apparently, she liked the words, ‘expensive in other territories.’
“Thank you, my lord. I’ll begin selling it immediately.”
Selling the antidiarrheal medicine and charcoal should provide a considerable amount of help to the territory’s budget.
However, at the time, I had no idea just how much of the medicine would eventually be sold.
Nor did I realize what kind of consequences would come from not personally choosing its name.
Alexandria, a city containing an enormous trading port on the Southern Continent.
Hans, the owner of a sugarcane plantation, had recently been suffering from a serious headache.
His slaves kept developing diarrhea.
In the hot and humid climate of this region, food spoiled easily, so many slaves suffered from stomach problems.
However, the frequency had increased dramatically this year.
As a result, the plantation’s productivity had dropped sharply.
Hans looked up at the cloudy sky and frowned.
“Is it because we’ve had so much rain? Why the hell does everyone keep getting diarrhea?”
Grumbling, Hans went to meet a friend.
He wanted to eat and drink while complaining about his problems.
“Hey! Hans, the great plantation owner! It’s been a while!”
“Great plantation owner, my ass.”
“What’s wrong with you? Something troubling you?”
“The slaves... No, let’s eat first.”
While eating the food and drinking the alcohol they had ordered, Hans and his friend discussed all kinds of social issues.
It felt as though they had discussed everything except the military and football.
Then,
“Ugh! My stomach...”
Hans grabbed his stomach in pain.
“What’s wrong?”
“My stomach’s upset. I think I’m going to have diarrhea.”
“Tsk, tsk. You should have eaten properly cooked food.”
“Firewood has been expensive lately. Ugh!”
Seeing Hans break out in a cold sweat, his friend took a medicine bottle from his bag.
“Here, Hans. Take this medicine.”
“What is that, poison? Are you trying to kill me and steal my wife?”
“Hahaha! Stop joking and take it. It’s medicine for stomach problems. Take four or five pills.”
“Really? Give it to me.”
Hans poured five pills out of the bottle.
They had a strong smell, but since it was medicine, he swallowed them.
Around ten or twenty minutes later, Hans realized the pain had completely disappeared.
He stared at the medicine in amazement.
“This medicine works incredibly well. My stomach doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Isn’t it amazing? The first time I took it, I thought an angel had descended from heaven.”
“Where can I get it? The slaves on my plantation suffer from stomach problems constantly.”
“Look at the bottle.”
Hans looked at the paper label attached to it.
Written in the common language of the Northern Continent were the words,
‘Eric Marcel’s Diarrhea Stopping Medicine.’
“Eric Marcel? Who is that?”
“A noble from the Franche Kingdom. He’s the man who created the medicine for sailor’s disease. Apparently, he developed this diarrhea medicine too.”
“Ah, I think I’ve heard of him. But if this medicine is too expensive, I can’t use it on slaves.”
“It’s cheaper than you’d expect. Should I buy a few bottles for you the next time I enter Catalonia?”
Hans waved his hand.
“Not a few bottles. Get me a mountain of it. I have two thousand slaves. I need a lot.”
“Oh dear. I might as well sail directly to Marcel, then. I heard the medicine is cheaper there.”
Hans thought of a good idea.
“I’ll speak with the other plantation owners and suggest making a joint purchase. You sail to Marcel and buy the medicine.”
“This is becoming serious business. Do I get a share?”
“Of course!”
The two men quickly reached an agreement.
And that was how the antidiarrheal medicine began spreading through the sugarcane plantations of Alexandria.
Marcel Port.
I had been looking down at the harbor from my office when I noticed an unusually large number of merchant ships.
So I came down personally.
I happened to spot Captain Adrien, so I called him over.
“Adrien Assel! What are all these merchant ships doing here? There must be twice as many as usual.”
“Ah, my lord. They came to buy Canada and antidiarrheal medicine.”
Canada, which meant maple syrup, was extremely popular, so that made sense.
But I did not understand why they were coming all this way for diarrhea medicine.
“They sailed here just to buy antidiarrheal medicine?”
“It’s cheap here, isn’t it? Apparently, they’re buying it here and reselling it elsewhere.”
“Once you include transportation costs, there shouldn’t be much difference.”
“That’s not true. The quantity of medicine they’re buying is enormous. Apparently, they’re making a profit through bulk trading.”
Just how much were they purchasing for him to use the word enormous?
At that moment, I noticed a merchant who could not speak the common language of the Northern Continent shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Eric! Diarrhea! Eric! Diarrhea!”
What the hell was that?
“Hey, Adrien. Why is he shouting my name together with diarrhea?”
“Huh? You didn’t know? The medicine is called ‘Eric Marcel’s Diarrhea Stopping Medicine.’ Apparently, people around his hometown shorten it to Eric Diarrhea.”
“...”
For some reason, I suddenly wanted to see Witch Winnie.
Preferably while holding a sword.
Perhaps my face twisted because Adrien gave me a gentle smile and tried to comfort me.
“Your fame is merely spreading further, my lord. Please don’t worry about it. Haha!”
That did not make me feel better at all.
I understood why Winnie had named it that way.
‘Eric Marcel’s Medicine for Sailor’s Disease’ was already famous.
So, for branding purposes, she had named this one ‘Eric Marcel’s Diarrhea Stopping Medicine.’
The name was also extremely obvious, making it easier for customers to understand.
“Eric! Diarrhea! Eric! Diarrhea!”
“...Adrien, make that merchant shut up immediately.”
“Hahaha! Understood.”
Adrien took the merchant toward a warehouse where huge quantities of antidiarrheal medicine were stacked.
My eyes naturally followed them.
Witch Winnie was standing near the warehouse, ordering the workers around.
For a moment, I considered running over there and scolding her.
Instead, I simply returned to the lord’s residence.
Calm down. It isn’t Winnie’s fault. I should have chosen the name earlier. Damn it. This is the kind of thing that’ll make me kick my blankets at night.
It would be quite some time before I realized I was the only person who actually cared about the nickname ‘Eric Diarrhea.’
Thanks to the strong sales of Canada and the antidiarrheal medicine, the territory’s financial situation rapidly improved.
Diego, my Chief of Economy, reported the new developments with a bright expression.
“My lord, at this rate, starting the year after next, we should be able to maintain the budget without issuing additional bonds. Also, many people have found jobs at the antidiarrheal medicine factories, so unemployment has fallen considerably.”
“That’s good news. Then I can start another new project.”
“What? What are you planning this time?”
“I’m going to buy slaves.”
A shadow immediately appeared over Diego’s face.
He had struggled to create room in the budget through strict spending cuts, and now his lord was already thinking of spending money again.
His reaction was understandable.
“Diego, don’t worry too much. Even if the project requires money right now, it’ll produce a profit in the long run.”
“I’m sure it will.”
Diego answered weakly.
It was not that he failed to understand my intentions.
Managing and squeezing every last coin from the budget was probably simply exhausting.
After regaining his composure, Diego asked,
“Are you planning to make the slaves grow wheat?”
“No. I’m going to grow something else. We’ll raise cattle too.”
“Cattle? Not sheep?”
On the Northern Continent, farmers commonly raised sheep alongside growing wheat.
There were plenty of farmers who focused entirely on wheat, but most people lived in large families.
Usually, at least one member of the household would take care of sheep.
The cattle in this world had not undergone much selective breeding, so they tended to be rather thin.
They also needed grain mixed into their feed.
Because of that, unless they were working cattle used for agriculture, people rarely raised many of them.
Humans barely had enough grain to eat.
There obviously had not been spare grain to feed livestock.
“Yeah. We’ll need people who can raise cattle.”
“If you raise them in large numbers, feed will become a problem.”
“I have a solution. Have you heard of cattle-feed beet?”
“Cattle-feed beet? I heard they grow large quantities of it on the Southern Continent.”
The Southern Continent had a hot climate, so people there raised more cattle and goats than sheep.
Cattle-feed beet was a type of beet.
I had heard that people cultivated enormous quantities, piled it up like mountains, and fed it to livestock.
Of course, back on Earth, it was called something else.
“That’s right. We’ll import cattle-feed beet and cultivate it here.”
“There must be a reason people don’t grow it on the Northern Continent.”
“I already investigated that while I was in Westfalen. The only problem is profit. Everyone who can farm on the Northern Continent grows wheat because wheat earns the most money.”
Diego’s expression became even darker.
His face practically screamed,
‘Then shouldn’t we just grow wheat?’
“I’ll explain. There are two reasons I want to grow cattle-feed beet. First, I plan to make something from the beet itself. Second, I plan to raise cattle and make something from them.”
“So you’re planning two new products.”
“Exactly.”
“Could you at least give me a rough idea what they are?”
“Nope.”
“...”
It was not because I distrusted Diego.
I wanted him to think for himself and try to figure it out.
No matter how much I explained things by saying, ‘This works like this, and that works like that,’ it would never be as effective as understanding something himself.
Whether Diego understood my intention or not, he looked dissatisfied.
“There is one problem, though.”
“What problem?”
“If you create something from cattle-feed beet and cattle, wouldn’t the Southern Continent immediately copy it? That region is outside the guild’s area of influence.”
The multinational great guilds only provided protection within four nations of the Northern Continent, Franche, Iberia, Germania, and Odoacer.
Other countries were grouped into regions controlled by different guilds.
“Diego Garcia, think of a solution. That’s your homework.”
“Ugh! Understood.”
I gave Diego more homework than anyone else.
That was because I was placing a great deal of importance on territorial management and increasing income.
“If you don’t have enough manpower, call Pascal.”
“...I’ll handle it myself.”
Was that competitiveness?
Excellent.
From now on, kill each other...
No.
Compete with each other.
